The COTEC Foundation is a foundation dedicated to technological innovation, which has already collaborated with more than 100 businesses that have sought assistance with technological innovation projects. COTEC’s general manager, Juan Mulet, claimed recently that is was not necessarily a lack of money, but rather a lack of commitment that was preventing Spanish businesses from becoming more involved in initiatives to promote technological innovation. He highlighted the importance of the foundation’s work in trying to mould technical research into practical applications that would help to increase the competitiveness of national businesses. Mulet expressed his views as he announced that the Municipal Council of Gijon in Asturias, Northern Spain, was joining the foundation’s executive committee. Gijon is the first municipal council to make the move, and Mulet hoped that it would serve as an example to other public bodies. The Mayor of Gijon, Vicente Alvarez Areces, explained that through this collaboration, Gijon aimed to reinforce the transfer of research, particularly at university level, to small and medium-sized businesses in the area. Our aims are in tune with those of the COTEC Foundation, since we believe that technological innovation is vital to the competitiveness of a business and to social progress, he said. In conjunction with COTEC, the council has organised a two-day congress to debate reindustrialisation in the Gijon area, the financing of technological innovation and plans to build a technology park, which aims to attract some 30 businesses around a technology centre. And it is hoped that the park will also develop strong links with the local university.
